Insulator clip inserting tool



Jan. 19, 1960 N. J. REES INSULATOR CLIP INSERTING TOOLl Filed July 18,1957 l n n n l 0 III United States Patent `Office 2,921,367 PatentedJan. 19, 1960 p 2,921,361 INsULA'roR CLIP INsERruvG lTooL Ned J. Rees,Richmond Heights, Mo., assigner to James R. Kearney Corporation, St.Louis, Mo., a corporation of Delaware Application July 18, 195.7, SerialNo. 672,653

'5 Claims. (Cl. 29-225) wooden supporting structures. In order toprovide su- K cient flexibility for such lines to withstand windpressure and temperature changes, the wires constituting such lines areusually suspended from their supporting .structures by strings ofinsulators in which individual insulators can a universal joint. Thetool is provided with a barrel which receives a spring clip, and anarcuate portion which fits around the socket part of the insulator forthe purpose of positioning the tool during insertion of the clip` Whenthe tool has been properly positioned, the rotatable handle is turned,whereby a piston contained in the barrel pushes the spring clip out ofthe barrel and into the slot-like opening in the socket of the insulatorthrough which the ball of an upper insulator is inserted into thesocketf of a lower one. When the insertion of the spring clip iscomplete, rotation of the rotatable handle in the opposite directionwithdraws the piston into the barrel and allows removal of the tool forreloading purposes.

Referring now to Figure 1, two insulators of the standard type are shownat 10. Each insulator is prol vided with a hollow socket portion 12 madeof anyrsuitbe attached to one another in any desired number to Y providethe required insulation strength. In order to allow replacement of adamaged insulator without replacing the whole string, these insulatorsare usually provided with ball-and-socket joints which alloweasy'removal of any one insulator from the string. In the past, thesejoints were locked by means of a cotter pin while in service 'so thatthe insulator string could not come apart under the mechanical influenceof swaying wires.

It was eventually found that insulator strings constructed on theforegoing principle had a tendency to cause severe radio interferencewhen any motion was imparted to the wires, as for example by the wind,due to inadequate metal-to-metal contact between the ball and socket inthe joints, linking particularly at such places where, due to thegeometrical conliguration of `the line, the load on the insulator stringwas small. Inorder to obviate these diiculties, the cotter pinpreviously used was replaced by a spring clip designed to force the balland socket into` firm electrical connection. Such a clip is described inapplication Serial No. 408,893, filed February 8, 1954, of Raymond A.Young, assigned to the same assignee as this invention. However,diiculties were encountered in installing these spring clips,particularfly when the work had to be performed where the installer hadto remain several feet away from the line for safety reasons. Myinvention is designed to` overcome these difiiculties, and its principalobject is therefore to provide a tool with which the spring clips can berapidly, safely and efciently installed in insulator strings.

I shall now describe my invention, reference being had to the drawing inwhich:

Figure lis an exploded view of a standard insulator link showingthe'spring clip;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tool of my invention;

Figure 3 is a sectional View of two insulators in linked position;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal section of the barrel and operating mechanismof the tool; and

Figure 5 is a transverse section of the barrel taken along line 5-5 ofFigure 4. I

The tool of my invention is provided with two long insulating handles,one of which is pivotally attached to the metal body of the tool, andthe other of which is rotatably attached to the piston of the tool so asto permit operation of the tool through the intermediary of able metaland rmly cemented to the'porcelain body 14 of insulator 10. The socket12 is provided with a T- shaped slot 16 having a longitudinal topportion 1S and a transverse bottom portion 20.

Each insulator 10 is provided on the underside with a ball member 22 inthe shape of a collar button. This ball member is so dimensioned thatwhen it is inserted into the slot 16 in a longitudinal direction, itwill pass through the transverse portion 20 of the slot 16 but will beretained inside the socket 12 by the sides of the top portion 18. InView of the dome shape of the socket 12, thehall member 22 can be movedupwardly as it moves along the portion 18 of slot 16, so thateventually, when the ball member 22 is fully inserted, there will be aspace between the bottom 24 of the socket 12 and the bottom of the ballmember 22, as is shown to advantage in Figure 3. A spring clip 26 canthereupon be inserted through the portion 20 of slot 16 as shown inFigure 3 until a recess 28 formed in `the top of spring clip 26 engagesthe rounded bottom 30 of ball member 22 and makes rm contact therewithregardless of any possible movement of ball member 22. At the sametime,` the insertion of spring clip 26 has blocked the opening 20 ofslot 16 so that ball member 22 can no longer be removed from socket 12until clip 26 is first removed by pushing it out by means of anappropriate tool inserted through opening 32 in the Vrear of socket 12.

, The tool for inserting the .spring clip 26 is shown in Figure 2,wherein the numeral 34 designates the ,stationary insulating handle towhich the barrel 36 of the tool is pivotally attached with a bolt 33. Acurved arm 40 is lattached to the side of barrel 36 at 42. This curvedarm.40 has a radius of curvature suiiicient to easily fit around thelargest size -socket 12 which is likely to be encountered in the use ofthe tool, and its inner surface is sloped so as to parallel the slope ofthe socket surface. A screw 44 is provided in the curved arm 40 to allowadjustment'of the ltool to smaller size sockets by keeping the curvedarm 40 spaced from the socket surface. .A screw 46 is provided at theend of the curved arm 40 diametrically opposite the opening of thebarrel 36.. The function of this screw is to engage the opening 32 ofthe socket 12 so as to position the tool in line with the portion 20 ofthe slot 16, and to hold it in place during the inserting operation. Thescrew 46 is adjustable just like the screw 44 so as to permit adaptationof the tool to sockets of diierent sizes.

Referring now to Figure 4, the barrel of my tool is again shown at 36.The tool is loaded by inserting a spring clip 2.6 into the barrel 36through the opening 43 until it reaches the position shown in Figure 4.A detent 50 is pressed against spring clip 26 by a spring 52 resting onscrew 54 so as to keep spring clip 26 from falling out of barrel 36 whenthe tool is turned upside down. A piston 56 is mounted inside the barrel36 and can be moved back and forth by means of the screw 58 which can berotated by' turning the handle 62 to which it is connected by universaljoint 60. A heavy spring 64 is mounted around the universal joint 60 togive mechanical protection thereto. The piston 56 is provided with acurvedfront face66 which receivesthe similarly shaped rear portion 68 ofVspring clip 26. A groove 70 is provided in one vside of the piston S6so as to prevent the detent 50 from impeding the movement of piston 56.The Vpiston 56 can be assembled with the screw 58 in any wellknownmanner, access for this purpose being provided by opening 72.

In operation, the tool -of my invention is rst l oaded by inserting aspring clip into the barrel as shown in Figure 4. The operator thenlifts the tool into position by means of the handles, using the handle34 to adjust the height of the tool, and using handle 62 for levelingit. The tool is then hooked around the socket 12 of the insulator onwhich the inserting operation is to be performed, the inward end ofscrew 46 being inserted in the opening 32 of the socket. When the toolis thus in position, the opening 48 of the barrel will be properlyaligned with the portion 20 of slot 16. Thereupon, the operator turnshandle 62, which transmits its motion through universal joint 60 toscrew 58. The piston 56 is thus moved forward within the barrel 36 andpushes the spring clip 26 out of the barrel through opening 48, and intothe socket 12 through portion 20 of slot 16, until the clip comes torest below ball member 22 in the position shown in Figure 3. The handle62 is then rotated in the opposite direction so as to withdraw thepiston 56 back into the barrel 36 and prepare the tool for the nextoperation. When this is done, the tool is unhooked from the socket 12 bymanipulating the handles 34 and 62, whereupon the tool is ready forreloading.

It will be seen from the foregoing that I have provided a tool whichallows fast, accurate, and safe installation of spring clips ininsulator strings. Obviously, my invention is capable of being carriedout in a number of varying embodiments without departing from the spiritthereof, and I therefore do not desire to be limited by the foregoingdescription but to cover and include all embodiments properly within thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is: l

1. A clip inserting tool for electrical insulators of the suspensiontype having a ball-and-socket joint comprising a barrel for receiving aclip, a piston movably mountedvwithin said barrel for pushing said clipout of said barrel, an arcuate arm mounted on said barrel having spacingmeans thereon for facilitating alignment of said barrel with a clipreceiving opening formed in the socket of said electrical insulator, ascrew member cooperating with said barrel to move said piston, arotatable handle, and a universal joint connecting said screw member andsaid handle so as to permit operation of said screw member by saidhandle regardless of their relative positions for pushing said clip fromsaid barrel into said clip receiving opening.

2. A tool for inserting anti-static clips into a ball-andsocket joint ofelectrical insulators of the suspension type comprising a first handle,a barrel pivotally mount- Vreceiving opening.

3. A tool for inserting anti-static clips into a ball-andsocket joint ofelectrical insulators of the suspension type comprising a rst insulatedhandle, a barrel pivotally mounted on said rst handle for receiving aclip, a piston mounted in said barrel for pushing said clip, resilientmeans associated with said barrel for impeding movement of said clip insaid barrel, an arcuate arm mounted on said barrel, means on said arm toengage a cooperating opening in said socket, means on said arm formaintaining a predetermined spacing between said arm and said socket, asecond insulated handle, a screw member arranged to move said pistonwithin said barrel, and a universal joint connecting said second handleand said screw member so as to permit operation of said screw member bysaid second handle regardless of the angle therebetween.

4. A clip inserting tool according to claim 3, further comprising aflexible mechanical shield surrounding said universal joint.

5. A clip inserting tool comprising a clip-receiving barrel, a firstbarrel supporting handle mounted for pivotal movement with respect tosaid barrel, a piston within said barrel, a second handle adapted forpivotal movement with resect to said barrel in a plane substantiallyparallel to the plane of movement of said first handle but around anaxis spaced from the axis of movement of said first handle, and meansconnecting said piston and said second handle so as to move said pistonwithin said barrel when said second handle is moved in a predeterminedmanner, an arcuate arm attached to said barrel adapted to extend arounda work piece and having at its extremity a rst protuberance for engagingsaid work piece, and a second protuberance on said arm spaced from saidfirst protuberance for maintaining a predetermined space between saidarm and said work piece.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS519,354 Sheppard May 8, 1894 750,408 Speelman Jan. 26, 1904 1,485,036Kingsley Feb. 26, 1924 1,672,477 Tipsord et al. June 5, 1928 2,138,802Clancy Nov. 29, 1938 2,199,833 Fleischman May 7, 1940 2,797,471Hamberger July 2, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 311,712 Germany Apr. 7, 1919OTHER REFERENCES Popular Mechanics, December 1912, page 775.

